What’s New in Public Law

–Maja Sahadžić, Ph.D. Researcher, University of Antwerp

In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in public law. “Developments” may include a selection of links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books and articles, and blog posts from around the public law blogosphere.

To submit relevant developments for our weekly feature on “What’s New in Public Law,” please email contact.iconnect@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

1. The Constitutional Court of Croatia asks the Ministry of Labour and Pension System to explain the financing of an advertising campaign on the comprehensive pension reform, which the unions and opposition claim was directed against the “67 is too much” referendum initiative.
2. The Constitutional Court of Hungary ruled in favor of a broad interpretation of signature gathering in the European Parliament elections.
3. The Constitutional Court of Jamaica struck down the mandatory biometric National Identification and Registration Act and the National Identification and Registration System, ruling that it violates constitutional privacy protections.
4. The Supreme Court of Mexico granted a new birth certificate to reflect the correct gender and name of a transgender citizen.
5. The Supreme Court of Israel ordered the Prime Minister to allow Palestinians from the West Bank to enter Israel and attend a joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony.
6. The Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled unanimously that election law on detailed list-MP calculation is constitutional.
7. The Constitutional Court of South Korea declared that the current abortion law is inconsistent with the Constitution and has requested a revision.
8. The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria struck down a higher tax rate on resort properties.
9. The Supreme Court of Spain ruled that the former president of Catalonia can run in the upcoming European Parliament elections.
10. The Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that arrests of two journalists in the case known as “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization Media Case” violated their rights, but at the same time found no rights violation in the case of five remaining journalists.

In the News

1. The National Dialogue Forum in Zambia rejected a proposal to merge the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.
2. The new Emperor of Japan Naruhito pledged to fulfil his role as a “symbol of the state and unity,” in his first public address since taking the throne.
3. The Parliament of Taiwan will vote on a gay marriage bill to comply with a Constitutional Court ruling from 2017 that prompted Parliament to guarantee same-sex unions within two years.
4. The anticorruption referendum in Romania is scheduled for the same day as the European Union elections.
5. The Parliament of Romania validated the appointment of two judges to the Constitutional Court, who were nominated by the largest government-party.
6. The Constitutional Court of Columbia meets outside of its premises as the judges believe their phones and offices are bugged.
7. The former president of Peru and his wife go to trial and face sentences of over 20 years for money laundering and the crime of concealment.
8. The President of the  Venezuelan Supreme Court rebuffed threats by the US government to sanction members of the Court for the support of President Nicolas Maduro. The US Treasury Department first imposed sanctions on Moreno and seven other members of the Court’s Constitutional Chamber in 2017.
9. The President of Ukraine appointed 75 new Supreme Court judges, including 15 who had been vetoed by the Public Integrity Council over violations of professional ethics and integrity standards.

New Scholarship

1. Wojciech Sadurski, Poland’s Constitutional Breakdown (2019) (exploring the reasons behind antidemocratic movements in Poland since 2015 and the prospects for a return to liberal democracy)
2. Ute Lettanie, Consultations and the ECB as prudential regulator: enhancing legitimacy?, Journal of Economic Policy Reform (2019) (examining whether ECB consultations, imposed by the Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation, enhance legitimacy in terms of openness, transparency, inclusiveness, efficacy and judicial accountability)
3. Han Zhu, Beijing’s “Rule of Law” Strategy for Governing Hong Kong, Chinese Perspectives (2019) (examining the evolution of legal strategies that the central government in  has used in managing Hong Kong affairs in the past three decades)
4. Jorge M. Farinacci-Fernós, Post-Liberal Constitutionalism, Tulsa Law Review (2018) (discussing the inner workings of post-liberal constitutions in contrast with their liberal-democratic counterparts and offering a critical analysis of how the concept of constitutionalism encompasses both liberal and post-liberal constitutions)
5. Ranieri L. Resende, Deliberation and Decision-Making Process in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Do Individual Opinions Matter?, Northwestern Journal of Human Rights (2019) (focusing on the adjudicatory nature of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and investigating its model of deliberation, considering three basic schemes of per curiam, seriatim and hybrid opinions)
6. Josephine De Jaegere, Judicial review and strategic behaviour (2019) (exploring the extent to which the Constitutional Court of Belgium performs as a deliberative institution while operating within a consensual political system)
7. Matt Qvortrup, The Referendum and Other Essays on Constitutional Politics (2019) (looking at the historical development of the referendum, its use in different jurisdictions, and the types of constitutional questions it seeks to address)
8. Kevin YL Tan and Ngoc Son Bui (eds.), Constitutional Foundings in Southeast Asia (2019) (examining on the making, nature, and role of the first modern constitutions at the founding of the modern nation-states in Southeast Asia)
9. Anneli Albi and Samo Bardutzky (eds.), National Constitutions in European and Global Governance: Democracy, Rights, the Rule of Law (2019) (reassessing the role of national constitutions from twenty-nine European countries at a time when decision-making has increasingly shifted to the European and transnational level)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

1. The Institute for Comparative Federalism at EURAC invites applications for the Federal Scholar in Residence Program. The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2019.
2. The Research Group on Constitutional Responses to Terrorism established within the International Association of Constitutional Law organizes its Annual Workshop on “Counter-Terrorism at the Crossroad between International, Regional and Domestic Law,” in Milan on 13-14 June 2019.
3. The Asian Journal of Comparative Law invites submissions for its 2019 and 2020 issues. The submissions are ongoing.
4. The Faculty of Law of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and PluriCourts Center invite paper proposals for a conference on “Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property: Emergence of New International Customary Law Rules – by Whom?” The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2019.
5. The Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance at Utrecht University welcomes applications for the summer school on “Law and Sustainability,” to be held in Utrecht, on 26-30 August 2019. The deadline for applications is 12 August 2019.
6. The American Society of Comparative Law invites proposals for its Annual Meeting on the theme “Comparative Law and International Dispute Resolution Processes,” to be held in Columbia, on 17-19 October 2019. The deadline for submissions is 20 May 2019.
7. Claremont McKenna College and the Society for Empirical Legal Studies invite submissions for the 14th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, to be held on 15-16 November 2019, in California. The deadline for paper submissions is 21 June 2019.
8. Kuwait International Law School invites applications for the position of a professor in constitutional law. The appointee will have a visiting status for the first two semesters, with a view to permanent appointment thereafter. Applicants should send a letter of interest and a curriculum vitae to Professor Yousri El-Assar at yelassar@gmail.com.

Elsewhere Online

1. Adriano Dirri, European values, rules and European goal(s): The Political Landscape of the EU Elections, Eureka!
2. Francesco Palermo, Perspectives on comparative federalism, 50 Shades of Federalism
3. Klaus Detterbeck, Political Parties: Driving Federal Dynamics, adapting to Federal Structures, 50 Shades of Federalism
4. Eugénie Mérieau, The Thai Constitutional Court, a Major Threat to Thai Democracy, IACL-AIDC BLOG
5. Mark Elliott and Stephen Tierney, House of Lords Constitution Committee reports on Parliamentary Scrutiny of Treaties, Public Law for Everyone
6. António Fernandes de Oliveira and Mónica Respício Gonçalves, Constitutional Court decisions reassure corporate taxpayers, International Law Office
7. Shawn W. Crispin, Prayut 2.0 may not last long in Thailand, Asia Times
8. Linda Greenhouse, The Supreme Court, the Census Case and the Truth, Will the justices be the administration’s enablers or form a firewall against its lies?, The New York Times
9. Ock Hyun-ju, Liberal Constitutional Court triggers hopes, concerns, The Korea Herald
10. Park Chan-kyong, South Korean women hope for law change as constitutional court weighs in on abortion ban, South China Morning Post
11. Isabel Linzer, Benin’s unrest reflects a broader worrying trend in West Africa, African Arguments
12. Ella Tenant, Japan: a new emperor and a new era – but women are still excluded from the Chrysanthemum Throne, The Conversation
13. Stephen Sawchuk, What Are Students’ Constitutional Rights?, Education Week
14. Alina Cherviatsova, Ze-Situation: A Constitutional Law Perspective on Ukraine’s Elections and What is Coming Next, Verfassungsblog
15. Bertil Emrah Oder, Independent Journalism v. Political Courts: The Cumhuriyet Trial in Turkey and Strasbourg, Verfassungsblog
16. Maximilian Steinbeis, After Defeat, Verfassungsblog